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January 29, 2015

Acceptable Anti-Semitism?

The UN held its first forum on anti-Semitism last week,
except that it was an “informal” gathering where only about half the UN
countries showed up, making any resolutions impossible.

And the event only took place at all when the Western countries
proposing it agreed that the forum would link anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
The ambassador from Saudi Arabia (a country that doesn’t allow Israelis,
or anyone with Israeli stamps on a passport, to enter) explained that the
actions of Israel “are very closely linked to the rise in hate crimes,
extremism, violence, and anti-Semitism."That is, anti-Semitism is the Jews’ fault.

But that’s the UN,
with its 26 condemnation resolutions passed in 2012, for example, one each for
Syria, Burma, North Korea, and Iran, and 22 against Israel.

How’s the rest of the world doing?

The murder of four Jewish men, Yoav Hataab, Yohan Cohen,
Phillipe Braham and Francois-Michel Saada who were shopping in a kosher market in Paris,
linked as it was to the Charlie Hebdo murders, got worldwide attention.

Perhaps less known is that the murderers were staking out
Jewish schools in Paris, as well. Or that attacks against French Jews,
including murders, rapes, and beatings have gone on for years.
This week, for the first time, the
French government has sent in army protection for all the Jewish schools in
France (the families have paid for guards until now).

In Malmo, Sweden,
a reporter tried an experiment of wearing a kipa and taking a walk. He was
called “dirty Jew” and other names, had eggs thrown at him, and was threatened with
shouts of “we will kill you.” He learned that many of the Jews still living in
Malmo are afraid to go out of their homes. Threats against Jews in Sweden have
escalated since the Paris attacks.

England? This summer London experienced the highest number of hate
crimes ever recorded, 95% of them against Jews.

It is impossible to keep track of all the anti-Semitic incidents
in Europe, but here is a blog that attempts it.

Yesterday was the 70th anniversary of the
liberation of Auschwiztand the New York
City Council acknowledged it, or attempted to, but was interrupted by a shouting, pro-Arab group.Councilman
David Greenfield,
whose grandparents survived the Holocaust, spoke out about the clear-cut
anti-Semitism.

And here in Israel last week, a Palestinian got on a Tel Aviv
bus and began stabbing people at random. 12 people in all were injured and
several are still in critical condition. The terrorist said an influence on him
was the promise of paradise
for those who kill Jews.

Seemingly isolated incidents occurring with such frequency
have way of becoming normalized, as if a high level of anti-Semitism is to be
expected (as it seems to be in parts of Europe) and if expected, then even
acceptable.